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Exercises for Young Children

Car seats, strollers, and high chairs are great for keeping your little one safe and secure while you are traveling or getting things done at home.

But, if children spend too much time without activity, it can cause problems with their motor development. Also, they can get too comfortable being sedentary and less likely to play and be active. This inactivity adds to the rising rate of childhood obesity.

You do not need to engage your young child in any serious physical activity. Instead, encourage your child to do more of what they are naturally inclined to do—explore and play. Exercise is important to help your child learn to use muscles and develop coordination. Just keep in mind that if an activity is too difficult, they can become frustrated and lose motivation to try again.

Infants (Birth to 12 months)

Engage your infant in some activity every day. This includes setting up safe areas for your infant to play in, playing games with your child, and having your child to explore different environments. Do not keep infants in baby seats or other restrictive settings for long periods of time. Instead, place them in settings that encourage play for short periods of time several times a day.

To help encourage your infant to be active:

Toddlers (12 to 36 months)

As walking skills progress, toddlers have a lot of energy. Encourage your child to participate in active play as much as they would like to, in a safe environment. Do not keep your child in a baby seat or inactive for long periods of time. Along the same line, do not sit a child younger than 2 years old in front of the TV. In children older than 2 years, limit TV viewing to 1-2 hours per day. It is important for your child's overall health to be physically active.

Toddlers should work up to at least 30 minutes of structured physical activity each day. Unstructured activity should last more than 60 minutes.

To encourage active play, try the following:

Preschoolers (3 to 5 years)

Continue to encourage your young child to participate in active play as much as possible throughout the day. Provide structured physical activity for at least one hour each day. Unstructered activity should take up one hour to several hours per day.

Some suggestions:

Emphasize fun, not competition. Preschoolers lack the social and cognitive development for organized team sports.

Again, it is important that you limit how much time your child spends doing sedentary activities, like watching TV or playing video games. Keep screen time to less than 1-2 hours a day! That way, your child will have more time for active play.

For Children of Any Age

Physical activity should become part of the family's daily routine. This means parents, too. Children are more likely to stick with it if they see their parents and older siblings being active. Look for chances to fit in exercise and make it a part of your family's lifestyle.

Plan day trips or vacations that include hiking, kayaking, swimming, bicycling, roller skating, skiing, or horseback riding. At home, set limits on TV time and encourage children to get outside and play. Also, involve the whole family in housework and yard work. Try to make these activities fun.

If you make exercise a priority in your life, your children will likely do the same.

RESOURCES:

Healthy Children—American Academy of Pediatrics
https://www.healthychildren.org

Shape America—Society of Health and Physical Educators
http://www.shapeamerica.org

CANADIAN RESOURCES:

About Kids Health—The Hospital for Sick Children
http://www.aboutkidshealth.ca

Caring for Kids—Canadian Paediatric Society
http://www.caringforkids.cps.ca

REFERENCES:

Active start. Society of Health and Physical Educators Shape America website. Available at: https://www.shapeamerica.org/standards/guidelines/activestart.aspx. Accessed November 16, 2017.

Learning, play, and your newborn. Kid's Health—Nemours Foundation website. Available at: http://kidshealth.org/parent/growth/learning/learnnewborn.html. Updated January 2015. Accessed November 16, 2017.

NHLBI integrated guidelines for pediatric cardiovascular risk reduction. EBSCO DynaMed Plus website. Available at:http://www.dynamed.com/topics/dmp~AN~T900917/NHLBI-integrated-guidelines-for-pediatric-cardiovascular-risk-reduction. Updated February 12, 2013. Accessed November 16, 2017.

Physical activity guidelines for children. Society of Health and Physical Educators Shape America website. Available at: https://www.shapeamerica.org/standards/guidelines/paguidelines.aspx. Accessed November 16, 2017.

Toddlers: Learn by playing. Kid's Health—Nemours Foundation website. Available at: http://kidshealth.org/parent/growth/learning/toddler_play.html. Updated October 2014. Accessed November 16, 2017.

Last reviewed November 2017 by EBSCO Medical Review Board Michael Woods, MD, FAAP